The applicants are not aware of any prior art references which, in their respective judgments as a person having ordinary skill in the art, would anticipate or render obvious the process of this invention. However, to fully develop the background and establish the state of the art, the following references are set forth. J. of Pharm. Sciences 57 2073 (1968) discloses the preparation of N-alkylethylenediamines wherein the alkyl is from C.sub.3 to C.sub.5 by the alkylation of anhydrous ethylenediamine with an alkyl halide in a solvent. Yields of or less than 57% are reported. J.A.C.S. 73 1370 (1951) discloses the preparation of N-alkylethylenediamines wherein the alkyl is from C.sub.1 to C.sub.8 by reacting an N-alkylamine with 2-bromoethylamine hydrobromide. Yields of or less than 52% are reported. U.S. Pat. No. 2,868,833 discloses the preparation of N-ethylethylenediamine by reacting monoacetylethylenediamine with lithium aluminum hydride in a solvent. Great Britain Pat. No. 1,007,343 discloses the preparation of octadecylethylenediamine by reacting ethylenediamine with octadecyl bromide in a solvent. The solvent is extracted with heptane and the heptane is removed by evaporation. Crude octadecylethylenediamine is obtained in a yield of 96%. There are no examples in the literature which disclose the preparation of N-ethylethylenediamine ##STR1## (hereinafter referred to as NEED), by the reaction of an ethyl halide and ethylenediamine, (hereinafter referred to as EDA). If EDA and an alkyl halide are reacted and neutralized to continuously prepare and recover the N-alkylethylenediamine, the recovery of pure product in high yield and purity is difficult because of the presence of EDA and water in the neutralized reaction mixture. With N-ethylethylenediamine the reaction mixture is not separable with a 15-plate column at a reflux ratio of 95%. An anhydrous mixture of equal parts by weight of NEED and EDA also is not efficiently separated under the above-identified fractionation conditions. There is a need, therefore, for an efficient process that will provide an N-alkylethylenediamine in a relatively high yield and purity.